The E-Gobrecht

, Collectors

The E-Gobrecht

Liberty Seated
Collectors Club

20 1 7 Volume 1 3, Issue 3

March 201 7 (Whole #146)

Auction News
by Craig Eberhart

2

Regional News
by Dennis Fortier

3

Call for Hall of Fame
Nominations

5

Cracked, Shattered,
and Terminal
by Benny Haimovitz

6-7

The Curious

Collector

by Len Augsburger

8

Quarter of the Month
by Greg Johnson

9

Congress and Coin-
age Legislation,
1850-1851
by Jim Laughlin

10-

13

LSCC Calendar

13

Free

Advertisements

14

LSCC

Information

15

Iff]

The LSCC Regional Team
in action!

(Clockwise from top)

Club dinner at Long Beach
(sponsored by Brian Cushing), John
Frost staffing the LSCC/BCCS ta-
ble at the Knoxville Show and John
Frost presenting an educational
program at the Knoxville Show.

The E-Gobrecht is an award winning informal electronic publication of the Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC).
The LSCC is a non-profit organization dedicated to the attributions of the Liberty Seated Coin series. The LSCC pro-
vides the information contained in this email newsletter from various sources free of charge as a general service to
the membership and others with this numismatic interest. You do not have to be a LSCC member to benefit from this
newsletter; subscription to the E-Gobrecht is available to anyone. All disclaimers are in effect as the completeness
and/or accuracy of the information contained herein cannot be completely verified. Contact information is included
on the last page.

Page 2

The E-Gobrecht

Auction News

by Craig Eberhart, LSCC #1348

Goldberg Coins and Collectibles
Pre-Long Beach Auction - January 13

As with other recent Goldberg Pre-Long Beach
Auctions, early copper coins dominated. A few Liberty
Seated coins were sold including a complete seven-
piece original 1859 proof set graded by PCGS that sold
for $15,862. It included a cent in PR65, a trime in
PR63, and the five Liberty Seated coins that all graded
PR64. An 1855-S half dollar graded VG8 by PCGS
sold for $940 and another San Francisco coin from the
1850s, an 1859-S dollar graded FI 2 by PCGS sold for
$911. An 1861-0 half dollar, a common and popular
date due to its production by three different govern-
ments, was sold in a decidedly uncommon grade. It
was graded by SEGS as a Specimen-61 and sold for
$3,760. This coin may be one of the ’’so-called” proofs
of this date. Examination of the catalog photographs
leads me to believe that it is a W-04 or possibly a W-03.
Both varieties were produced by the State of Louisiana.

Heritage Signature Auction -
Long Beach Coin Show - February 16-19

A number of better date Liberty Seated coins
were included in this auction. The 1853-0 no arrows
half dime from the Eliasberg collection, a PCGS
MS65+ coin that is the finest graded example, sold for
$37,600. Dimes included an 1874-CC that was graded
by PCGS as aVGlO and sold for $9,987. A beautifully
toned PCGS 1859 PR65 CAC transitional dime (Judd-
233), previously part of the Gardner collection, sold for
$16,450.

Several early New Orleans quarters graded by
PCGS were in the auction. An 1840-0 with drapery

Large O graded XF40 and sold for $4,935. This rare
issue is often referred to as a transitional issue because
a ”no drapery” reverse was combined with ’’with dra-
pery” obverse. An 1843-0 large O, another rare varie-
ty, was graded MS-63+ CAC and sold for $16,450. An
1847-0 in XF45 went for $1,116 and an 1850-0 in
AU55 for $1,116. Two PCGS graded 1856-S quarters
were in the auction: an MS62 sold for $6,462 and an
MS63 CAC for $11,750.

An 1846 over horizontal 6 (WB-7, WB-104)
half dollar graded PCGS XF45 was bought for $1,527
while an overdate 1847/(6), also in PCGS XF45, sold
for $2,350. Two AU55 1852-0 half dollars were in the
sale with the ANACS coin selling for $1,997 and the
PCGS coin for $3,055. An 1856-S in PCGS AU53 sold
for $2,585. Several 1861-0 half dollars were in the
sale. One of these was the very popular CSA obverse
with the die crack from Liberty’s nose to the rim of the
coin (W-ll). This PCGS XF45 half dollar sold for
$3,055. The high demand for this variety stems from
the obverse die being the only one subsequently paired
with the CSA designed reverse. An 1866-S No Motto
half dollar in PCGS VF35 sold for $1,292. Two 1870-
CC half dollars were also sold; the PCGS FI 5 for
$3,760 and the NGC VF30 for $4,700.

Three PCGS graded 1875-CC Trade dollars
were in this sale. An AU58 sold for $1,233, a chop-
marked MS62 for $1,527, and an MS62 without any
chopmark for $3,525. Another 1875 Trade dollar with
an S over CC mintmark was graded PCGS AU53 and
sold for $1,645.

LSCC website: www.lsccweb.org

20 1 7 Volume 1 3, Issue 3 (March 2017)

Page 3

Regional News

by Dennis Fortier, LSCC #2016

Traveling to coin shows on the
Regional schedule from year to
year becomes a ritual of recon-
necting with old friends and
revisiting favorite dining estab-
lishments. The LSCC be-
1 comes part of the fabric that
populates these regional shows. Members look for-
ward to tangible proof that the club they belong to is
more than interesting and informative articles. Show
attendees look forward to educational opportunities
as well as the chance to see rare and interesting coins.

Along with our award-winning publications
and the well known numismatists that lead the club,
the Regional Team is the face of the club; the boots
on the ground as it were.

The month began with the LSCC’s third an-
nual visit to the Ft. Loudon/Smokey Mt. coin clubs
Knoxville TN show. The table display concentrated
on Philadelphia Half Dollars to highlight Bill Bugert’s
new book “A Register of Liberty Seated Half Dollar Varie-
ties Volume K”as well as John Frost’s Dollar set.

The educational portion of the show featured
“Double Dimes and the Amazing Find at the Carson
City Mint” by John Frost and “The Historic Liberty
Seated Coin Series” by Dennis Fortier.

Here the Charlotte Coin Show report by John
Frost: February 10-11 found us in North Carolina at the
Charlotte Coin Club' s Annual Show. This year's show was in
a new and modern facility after years north of the city. Despite
a large mid-winter snowstorm that prevented a few northeast
dealers from traveling to Charlotte , the show seemed to have
decent activity and bu While traffic appeared to be down
slightly from last year (surely some people went to the old loca-
tion by mistake j, we met some LSCC members that had joined
in the past couple years at this show, plus one new member.

One of the attendees we talked with at the table was a student
from last year's ANA Summer Seminar - great to see him
again l The exhibit at the LSCC table included Liberty Seated
Dollars and other interesting Liberty Seated type coins. Addi-
tionally, three educational programs were presented over the two
days of the show. The show was enjoyable and we plan to be
there next year!

Long Beach. Brian Cushing had the usual
suspects at the club dinner at the Rock Bottom Brew-
ery. A dedicated group who enjoy good food and
good company. Bob Clark hosted the club table for
us. Many thanks Brian and Bob.

March 26 brings the Willimantic CT. show.
One of the best shows in Connecticut, the LSCC has
been a part of it since 2010. The club table will be
hosted by John Frost and Dennis Fortier.

The spring Whitman Baltimore show is March
30-April 1. On Thursday and Friday, the club table
will feature selections of 1843 Liberty Seated half dol-
lars from the collection of Bill Bugert. The die cracks
of this date are amazing. John Frost, Carl Feldman,
and Dennis Fortier will be there on Saturday but the
1 843 half dollar display is Thursday and Friday only.

Len Augsburger will host the club meeting on
Friday morning. The usual club dinner at M & S Grill
will be on Thursday night at 6:30 PM. Make plans to
join us.

LSCC website: www.lsccweb.org

Page 4

The E-Gobrecht

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20 1 7 Volume 1 3, Issue 3 (March 2017)

Page 5

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We have a large inventory for all
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Call for

Nominations for the

The Hall of Fame Committee composed of club members Len Augsburger, Bill Bugert, Tom DeLorey, Gerry
Fortin, and Mark Sheldon wishes to inform the membership that we are accepting nominations for the Liberty
Seated Collectors Club’s 2016 Hall of Fame (HoF). Please consider honoring a noteworthy individual to this
prestigious distinction for his/her contributions to the club and/or to the advancement of collecting Liberty
Seated coinage.

Basic qualifications for club member nominees are significant advances in or contributions to at least
one of the following four criteria:

• Numismatic Research on Liberty Seated coinage

• Numismatic Literature related to Liberty Seated coinage

• Collection(s) of Liberty Seated coinage

• LSCC Club officer (for at least five years).

Previous inductees to the HoF include Kamal M. Ahwash (deceased), John W. McCloskey, Alfred E.
Blythe (deceased), Randall E. Wiley, Brian Greer, Jim O’Donnell (deceased), Gerry Fortin, and Eugene Gardner
(deceased). This year’s inductee will be announced at the LSCC 2017 Annual meeting at the August ANA Con-
vention.

The nominations must be received no later than April 15, 2017 and are due to the HoF Chairman, Bill
Bugert, via email at wb8cpy@earthlink.net or via postal mail at Bill Bugert, 1230 Red Rock Road, Gettysburg,
PA 17325-6927 or to Bill via telephone at (717) 337-0229.

Cracked, Shattered, and Terminal

by Benny Haimovitz, LSCC #2494

1854-0 Half Dollar, WB-9, Arrows,
“Big Foot N”

The 1 854 With arrows Liberty Seated half dol-
lar from the New Orleans branch mint is a true
'treasure trove5 with some 58 know die marriages, so
far, providing an amazing array of possibilities for
cracked and shattered combinations. The WB-9, "Big
Foot N55, so named by Mike Lloyd, is a great example.

Lower obverse date diagnostics include sub-
stantial die cracks from serif of 1 to rock support and

rock, with radial die crack from rim through right ar-
rowhead into rock support and liberty’s skirt. Addi-
tional die cracks appear from Liberty’s foot support
through toes and out to rim.

Other obverse diagnostics include continuation
and enlargement of die crack from serif of 1 through
rock support and rock and out to Star 1 . Other strong
die cracks appear from Liberty Cap through Stars 9 to

(Continued on page 7)

20 1 7 Volume 1 3, Issue 3 (March 2017)

Page 7

(Continued from page 6)

13, with “double” cracks between Stars 9 to 11.

The reverse diagnostics include the small cud
on the bottom of the N, hence the “Big Foot N”, with
additional die cracks through top of UNITED, down
through leaves and under HALF. Heavier die cracks
appears between top of D and O and from lower O
through L in DOL. Additional die cracks appear from
rim to middle and upper arrowheads to lower part of
A in AMERICA.

Die state diagnostics courtesy of Bill Bugert
from his “A Register of Liberty Seated Half Dollar
Varieties, Volume IV, New Orleans Branch Mint 1853
-OWAto 1861-0.”

Images courtesy PCGS TrueView with this
example graded PCGS AU55.

Page 8

The E-Gobrecht

The Curious Collector

by Len Augsburger, LSCC #1271

Spring Cleaning

This month we clean out
the '"miscellaneous” fold-
Onward with the de-

er.

cluttering!

Several years ago I wrote the book Treasure in
the Cellar , detailing a spectacular gold find in the base-
ment of a Baltimore tenement in 1934. Two youths,
Theodore Sines (aka Jones) and Henry Grob, un-
earthed approximately $20,000 face value in United
States gold coins, none dated after 1856, and their lives
were never again the same. A new book by Jack My-
ers, Knights' Gold, \ now takes the story backwards and
investigates the identity of the gold depositor(s). My-
ers weaves a web of intrigue surrounding a band of
Confederate sympathizers in Baltimore, and the con-
nections are provocative. If you like Civil War con-
spiracy theories, you will enjoy reading this book. Or-
der your copy at https://www.amazon.com/Knights-
Gold -Baltimore -Confederate -organization/
dp/1539896560.

Speaking of books, my latest, co-authored with
Joel Orosz and Pete Smith, is just about to be released.
Published by Heritage, the book is titled 1 792: Birth of
a Nation's Coinage , and is the most comprehensive
study to date on the U.S. coinage of 1792. We cover
the political and economic events leading up to the
formation of the U.S. Mint, and include detailed cen-
sus and pedigree information for every known speci-
men of 1792 coinage. Pete Smith, who did the census
work, uncovered over 250 distinct examples, and
probably 10 times that number of auction catalogs in
search of census data. These books have been printed
and are in the Heritage warehouse — ordering instruc-
tions will be announced by them shortly.

John Kraljevch, in honor of Black History
Month, has undertaken to make one Facebook post
per day featuring a related numismatic item. Just to
recommend one, the page https://
www.facebook.com / john.kraljevich/
posts/10212270373854320 discusses anti-slavery cop-
per tokens which circulated in the late 1 830s (at a val-
ue of one cent) alongside the newly-issued Liberty
Seated silver coinage. From a numismatic viewpoint,
the most interesting is the AM I NOT A MAN AND
BROTHER variety, known to the extent of only three
examples and worth close to six figures. Whitman’s
100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens (2007) listed
this piece high in the series, at number 10. An exam-
ple recently sold from the Newman collection at
$70,500.

We have lots of major events coming up, in-
cluding the spring ANA show in Orlando the second
week of March, Baltimore the last week of March, the
Early American Coppers convention a few weeks later
in Philadelphia, and finally the Central States show in
Schaumburg, IL in April. These are all great events
and you can hardly go wrong with any of them. I will
be at all four and look forward to meeting other LSC-
Cers in attendance. The Baltimore and Central States
shows will have dedicated LSCC meetings, please see
the calendar elsewhere in this issue for further infor-
mation.

20 1 7 Volume 1 3, Issue 3 (March 2017)

Page 9

Quarter of the Month

by Greg Johnson, LSCC #1460

AU Liberty Seated Quarter Dollars

The journey of a coin collector
is, like many things, really about
continuing to learn. The most
interesting lessons often come after you have spent a
lot of time at it and feel as though you have hit the
point of diminishing returns. It is like going from
simplicity to complexity and then finding more sim-
plicity on the other side of complexity. Another way
to say it is that some simple things that become appar-
ent further along the collecting path, and seem obvi-
ous in retrospect, only really sink in after many years
of collecting.

Grading standards were
established to put a numerical value
on the “state of preservation” of a
coin. The so-called technical grade

is a measure of how well preserved a coin is in com-
parison to its ideal, newly minted condition. Though
there was always a link between grade and value, the
advent of third party grading services (TPGs) and the
resulting perception of standardization and objectivity
strengthened that link considerably. The close associ-
ation between a coin’s value and the number on its
slab proceeded to, in a relatively short period of time,
change the meaning of the number on the slab and
“market grading” became the norm. The market
grade can be very different from the technical grade as
it is really a measure of value and as such combines
technical grade, striking character-
istics, planchet quality, and overall
eye appeal into a single number
that serves, in practice, as a short-
cut method of valuation.

My fascination with Liberty
Seated quarters has been going on
for a number of years and from the
outset I tended to prefer coins in
the AU grades. It didn’t take long
to determine that some Liberty
Seated quarter issues are far harder
to find in AU than price guides or
other reference materials suggest.
In fact, a number of issues are pro-
portionally harder to find in AU
than they are in Mint State. After
more than a dozen years of closely
watching the market for Liberty
Seated quarters the most probable
factors behind some of these ob-
servations appear quite clear. At
the risk of re-mastering the obvi-
ous, or proving that I am far slower
to understand than I should be, I
want to discuss one of those fac-
tors.

The punch line? Many of
the apparently missing AU Liberty
Seated quarters are in XF holders
because of poor strikes. This is
particularly true of New Orleans
mint quarters, a fair percentage of
which are very challenging to lo-
cate in TPG graded AU holders.
Pay close attention and you can
also find a significant number of
XF graded coins with unusually
strong luster, but marginal detail.
The coin shown at left is an AU
with almost full luster struck from
an obverse die missing a lot of de-
tail. It was purchased in a PCGS
VF35 holder, resubmitted, and
upgraded to PCGS XF45.

Page 10

The E-Gobrecht

Congress and Coinage Legislation, 1 850-1 851

by Jim Laughlin, LSCC #876

In doing some newspaper searches a few years back, I
happened across an 1850 article indicating a bill had
been introduced in the House of Representatives re-
quiring the mint to coin double dimes or 20 cent piec-
es. I thought it odd that the House would attempt to
introduce a new silver denomination at the time when
silver coins were starting to disappear from circulation.
The price of silver had risen such, that it became prof-
itable to take liberty seated silver coins from circulation
and sell them to brokers for more than their face value
in gold coin.

Jeffersonian Republican (Stroudsburg, PA), March 14,
1850.

A bill has been introduced into Congress by
Mr. Schenck: It reduces the legal value of a Spanish
shilling to that of a dime, and the six and quarter cent
piece to five cents, and foreign quarters to twenty
cents. The mint is required to coin double dimes or 20
cent pieces, equal to the fifth of a dollar.

From the Brunner-Frost book, Double Dimes ,
The United States Tmnty-cent Piece, in Chapter 1.1, the
authors explain that this 1850 House proposal had
been the third attempt to introduce the twenty cent
piece as a circulating coin in the United States. They
go on to explain that the Senate had been considering
a bill to introduce a smaller cent piece with 1/10 silver
9/10 copper and a 3 cent piece, 34- silver 14 copper,
while at the same time the House was considering a
bill to establish into law a fixed exchange rate for the
Spanish Empire /Mexican fractional silver pieces that
circulated side by side with the Liberty Seated coinage.
The authors explain that the House bill went nowhere.
The holders of a two reales piece would have been in-
stantly subject to a twenty per cent loss, and the bill
failed to address how the new coins issued from the
United States Mints would stay in circulation. The
Spanish shilling described in the article above would
have been the Spanish 1 Real coin (or bit), nominally
of 12 V2 cents, which the statute would have affix a 10
cents value on. The foreign quarters, would be the 2
reales piece (two bits), nominally of 25 cents which the

new law would fix at 20 cents. The introduction of a
20 cent piece at this time would facilitate retirement of
the “foreign quarters”.

Fremont weekly freeman (Fremont, Ohio), June 15, 1850.

Small Coins, Cheap Postage & c.

The Pennsylvanian has the following paragraph
touching the new coinage which Senator Dickinson
has proposed in the bill now before the U. S. Senate —

“The obliging officers of the U. S. Mint have
sent us new specimens or illustrations of the two new
coins (lately struck at the mint), proposed in the bill
presented by Mr. Dickinson, in the United States Sen-
ate. The cent, containing a small proportion of silver is
designed a substitute for the copper coin now issued.
It weighs twenty-five grains; the present cent, one hun-
dred and sixty-eight — It has a circular hole in the cen-
tre. The three cent pieces, composed of three-fourths
silver one-fourth copper, are intended to be exchanged
for the £fips, levies and quarters’, of Spanish type now
and so long infesting our currency. The piece weighs
twelve and three-eighths grains, and its diameter is just
midway between the half dime and gold dollar. These
coins are decidedly more elegant and convenient than
those now in use. We trust they will be authorized to
be issued”

The New York Courier and Enquirer thus speaks
of the importance of this measure, especially in con-
nection with the project for the reduction of postage —

“The Senator has not overestimated the subject
of small coin. It is very important. Every man’s con-
venience calls for a substitution of a small coin instead
of the mass of copper which here at the north we lug
about from sheer necessity. At the south they submit
to the inconvenience of having their lowest coin a half
dime, rather than handle filthy verdigris. With cheap
postage — -if we ever get it — a small silver coin of the
same value of a single letter postage, will be an abso-
lute necessity of life everywhere, and the reduction of
postage will furnish an excellent opportunity for im-
proving the current coin. The postage reduction seems
to lie between two and three cents. An excellent com-

(Continued on page 1 1 )

20 1 7 Volume 1 3, Issue 3 (March 2017)

Page 1 1

(Continued from page 10)

promise would be to adopt, for a new coin and post-
age, a quarter dime, which also lies between two and
three cents.”

In the late 1840s, the postal rate to mail a V2
ounce letter a distance of less than 300 miles was 5
cents. The Post Office receipts showed that this rate
was way in excess of the costs the Post Office was ac-
tually incurring to move the mails, and so a study was
to be done by the Post Office Department to deter-
mine a new lower postage rate that would more reflect
actual costs. It was known the rate would be some-
where between two and three cents. The above article
was an early Senate proposal aimed at fixing the many
vexes of the day. One was changing the composition
of the bulky, often verdigris covered, large copper
cents; another was to have a small United States coin
to aid in retiring the worn Spanish Empire /Mexican
coins then in circulation (see E-Gobrecht Vol 11, Issue 7
(July 2015) for more on fips and levies). As the postal
rates were going to soon change, a new coin to match
and facilitate the purchase of whatever the new stand-
ard letter postage was going to be. It is interesting to
note that this article indicates that in the “South,” large
cents were not in circulation then, the smallest coin
being the half dime.

The following articles are from the Congressional
globe (1833-1873/, the current Federal Kegister of its day.
It being a day to day record of the activities on the
floor of the Senate and House.

Congressional globe, Page 24, December 10, 1850.

H. R. 24, being a bill to regulate the value of
certain foreign coins within the United States, and to
provide for the coinage of the double dime piece, was
read.

Section 3 of H. R. 24 reads; And be it further
enacted , That there shall be, from time to time, struck
and coined at the Mint of the United States, and the
branches thereof, conformable in all respects to law,
and to the present standard for silver coins of the
United States, coins of silver of the denomination of
double dime pieces, each of said coins to be of the val-
ue of twenty cents, and a legal tender in all cases for
that sum; and all laws now enforce in relation to the

coins of the United States, for regulating the striking
and coining the same, for preventing the counterfeiting
or debasing of coins, or for any other purpose, wheth-
er penal or otherwise, shall have full force and effect,
so far as the same may be applicable, in relation to the
new coins herein authorized.

The bill was read in the House chambers but
the House immediately voted not to consider this bill.
The following motion on the floor was for the House
not to consider any other bills on their upcoming cal-
endar and move immediately to the consideration of
the postal rate bill. Thus, the “postal rate bill” was
moved to the front of the line for consideration and
the bill that included the new twenty cent piece was
passed over.

As part of the Postal Rate Bill introduced by
Mr. Ashmun’s from December, 18, 1850, believing the
letter rate was to come in at two cents, it included a
provision for a two cent piece of a composition of 3A
silver, % alloy. This was apparently before the Post
Master General issued his department’s final report. I
suppose the thought was get the bill started, than they
could amend in whatever the actual rate was when it
finally was known. The 3A silver, % alloy did finally
show up as the composition of the later three cent
piece.

Congressional globe. Page 73, December 18, 1850.

Sec. 9, And be it further enacted , That the direc-
tors of the Mints in the United States are authorized
and required to coin pieces of the value of two cents,
composed of three parts silver and one part alloy,
which shall be lawful tender for all debts due to the
Government of the United States, and to individuals,
persons, and corporations.

The following is from January, 1851 and shows
the frustration a member of Congress had with Con-
gress coming to an agreement on the new postal bill.
Issues, such as the rates for newspapers and printed
matter; Congressional franking privileges; and the need
to have some denomination of coin between a cent
and a half dime to match the price of the new letter
postage rate, as well as having coins available in circu-
lation across the country so that purchasers of stamps

(Continued on page 12)

Page 12

The E-Gobrecht

(Continued from page 1 1)

would not be short changed by Postmasters. Like to-
day, there were conspiracy theories and like the Black-
adder BBC’s TV show character Baldrick, thoughts of
a “cunning plan.” It ends with a might have been coin,
the “quarter-dime” or a two and a half cent piece,
composed of 3A silver, % alloy. There was a belief at
that time the Post Office was going to recommend 2

Congressional globe, January 11, 1851, Page 220.

Mr. Matterson....

The whole country — at least the North, the
East, and the West — are appealing to Congress, not to
debate this topic, but to act upon it; and, really, it
seems as if Congress has made up its mind to gratify
itself in the way of speaking the subject to death, rather
than to satisfy the country by enacting this postage re-
form, so generally demanded. It has been urged in the
course of the debate that the whole movement is but
the cunningly-devised scheme of certain parties located
principally in the city of New York— certainly in the
Atlantic cities

Congressional globe ^ January 11, 1851, Page 222.

Sec. 3, And be it further enacted , That the direc-
tors of the Mints in the United States are authorized
and required to coin pieces of the value of two and a
half cents, or quarter-dimes, composed of three parts
silver and one part alloy, which shall be lawful tender
for all debts of thirty dollars or under, due to the Unit-
ed States, and to individuals, persons, and corpora-
tions.

Two days later, the House considered a resolu-
tion to create a Committee to "inquiry” into the reduc-
tion of silver content of the silver coins of the Coun-
try. As we know today, it took Congress until Febru-
ary 21, 1853 to finally come to an agreement to address
the issues put forth in this January, 1851 House resolu-
tion.

Congressional globe, January 13, 1851, Page 226.

SILVER COINS. Mr. Chandler asked the
unanimous consent of the House to offer a resolution.
It was merely a resolution of inquiry, and he hoped
that there would be no objection to it. The resolution
was reported to the House; it is as follows:

Whereas, in consequence of the large supplies
of gold from California and other parts of the world,
the proportion between that metal and silver is rapidly
changing, thereby affecting their relative values, and
rendering the latter metal an article of merchandise
rather than currency, and causing its circulation as
money to cease at its nominal value:

And whereas, under the circumstances, the sil-
ver coins of the country are being largely exported; and
in consequence of the premiums offered for them be
dealers in bullion, they are being rapidly withdrawn
from circulation, thereby subjecting banks and busi-
ness community to great and growing inconvenience
from the scarcity of these coins for the purpose of
making change:

PLesolved, , That the Committee on Commerce be
instructed to inquire into the expediency of reducing
the value of the silver coins of the United States by
diminishing their weight or of increasing the propor-
tion of alloy in the same, or both, so as to prevent their
exportation; and that they have leave to report by bill
or otherwise.

The following is a firsthand account that clearly
states that large cents did not circulate in Kentucky in
1851. Now this could be House theatrics, and no
doubt is a broad brush statement by a local Congress-
man. Tying this statement with the earlier Fremont
weekly freeman (Fremont, Ohio) article, of June 15, 1850,
large cents must have not generally circulate in the
South at that time. Liberty Seated half dimes were ap-
parently the smallest coins in circulation along with the
Spanish Empire /Mexican silver coinage.

Congressional globe, January 15, 1851, Page 243.

Mr. Stanton continued, Mr. Chairman one of
the great difficulties I have had, in reference to this
whole matter of cheap postage, and which has induced
me, on all occasions, to vote against a reduction of
postage on letters to a rate less than five cents, has
been the difficulty that exists in the State I have the
honor to represent (Kentucky), as well as in many oth-
er States of this Union, in procuring the small coin that
would be necessary to use in the Post Office, if a rate
less than five cents were to be adopted. The smallest
coin which has yet found its way into the State of Ken-
tucky is five cents. Our people have not yet become
accustomed to the use of the copper coin, and it is

(Continued on page 13)

20 1 7 Volume 1 3, Issue 3 (March 2017)

Page 13

(Continued from page 12)

very doubtful whether they will ever become accus-
tomed to its use. If you were to authorize the coinage
of the miserable little affair, exhibited here by the gen-
tleman from Indiana [Mr. Brown] a day or two since —
a three cent coin — -it never can come into general use
in the State of Kentucky..

Now, sir, there is great imposition practiced
upon the people of Kentucky in collecting postage on
newspapers under the present system. We are required
by the Department to pay the postage on newspapers
at the commencement of every quarter. The postage is
calculated at so much per quarter. The postage on a
certain class of weeklies amounts to thirteen cents per
quarter; now we are obliged to give them fifteen cents,
because we have no coin which will come nearer than
that; we are required to make payment in advance, and
the result is, that the postmaster pockets two cents
from every subscriber

Mr. Stanton’s amendment for newspapers was
to required free delivery within the county where pub-
lished or within thirty miles. Longer distances would
be charged prices a rate that was always divisible by
five cents, such as 15, 30, and 45 cents.

The 31st Congress in 1851 was subject to many
other coinage proposals. Like the previous articles
mentioned above, the proposals are interesting insights
into what Congress was thinking about at the time, and
occasionally one can see the specifics in one carried
over into a later bill, such as the original 3A alloy two
cent piece, ended up being the composition of the first
three cent piece. Here are a few more from 1851: A

mandate that the Mints issue % of the gold coins pro-
duced in gold dollars, % in quarter eagles, % in half
eagles, and only 1/8 in $10 and 20. An apparent belief
that the coins the Mint issued were for Bankers and
not for the general people (Page399); A similar bill
includes the same breakout for gold coins but also re-
quires half the silver be coined in quarter dollars,
dimes, half dimes (Page 799); A proposal that dollars,
half-dollars and quarters be composed of gold and sil-
ver in the proportions of equal values, according to the
relative standard between the metals as now fixed by
law. An early Goloid composition idea (Page 410). A
petition from a few individuals in upstate New York,
pleading that the Mint make twenty and forty cent
pieces, abolishing the twenty five and fifty cent piece.
(Page 594). A proposal to coin 1/10 silver 9/10 cop-
per cents and authorization for them to be coined at
New Orleans. An additional provision for them to be
struck at Dahlonega and Charlotte, with the permis-
sion of the Secretary of the Treasury. (Page 275)

Sources:

Library of Congress, http:/ /
memory.loc.gov . (A somewhat easier to use digi-
tal library for the Congressional globe, University of
Northern Texas, at http:/ / digital.library.unt.edu

Pennsylvania and Ohio newspaper; Library of Con-
gress. http:/ / chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

Brunner, Lane J. and Frost, John. M.. Double Dimes
The United States Twenty Cent Piece

http://www.doubledimes.com

LSCC Calendar

Early-March 2017. Gobrecht journal Issue #128 published and mailed to all current members.

^ March 26, 2017. LSCC table. Willimantic, CT. Mansfield Numismatic Society Annual Coin Show,
Prospect School Gym, Willimantic, CT.

) March 30-April 1, 2017. LSCC table, meeting, and educational program. Baltimore, MD.. Whitman
Baltimore Spring Expo. Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore Inner Harbor, MD.

Page 14

The E-Gobrecht

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Wanted to Buy. Collector of Liberty Seated Dollars wants en-
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National Officers

President
Gerry Fortin

wuximems@hotmail.com

Vice President
Leonard Augsburger
leonard_augsburger@hotmail.com

Secretary / Treasurer

Dale Miller
dalecta@gmail.com

Publications Editor

Bill Bugert

wb8cpy@earthlink.net
P.O. Box 242
Fairfield, PA 17320
(717) 337-0229

National Positions

Carl Feldman

carlscoins@gmail.com
Membership Chairman

John Frost

john.frost@doubledimes.com
Education Director

Dennis Fortier

ricajun@msn.com
Team Leader,

Regional Directors

Jason Feldman

jasonfeldman@gmail.com

Director,

LSCC Southern Region

Steve Petty

spetty@eesinc.cc

Director,

LSCC Central Region

Brian Cushing

bpcushing@gmail.com

Director

LSCC Western Region

Vacant — Director,

LSCC Northeast Region

LSCC Mission

To encourage, promote, and dispense numismatic
knowledge of the Liberty Seated coins; to culti-
vate fraternal relations among its members and
all those interested in the science of numismatics.

LSCC Membership Information. Dues are bargain
priced at $25 per year and include three issues of the
Gobrecht Journal, an award winning numismatic publi-
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Please consider submitting something for print, it need
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ry pick, happenings at a coin show, rare Liberty Seated
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